Thoughts and questions regarding just about everything while taking a daily stroll with my dog.

Friday, May 25, 2012

THIS Is What America Should Be About

Today is a red letter day for private enterprise! SpaceX successfully docked it's Dragon capsule with the International Space Station. This is what happens when you get together a bunch of rich guys who share a dream.

Making it even better they are filling a gap left when NASA abandoned the shuttle program for more esoteric pursuits like mining asteroids and landing a man on Mars, technologies that are no where near ready. That left the delivery of supplies and transportation of astronauts to others - mainly the Russians.

Maybe not for long. SpaceX is expecting to be able to shuttle humans within a couple of years. Even better, other companies are working on competing designs. Even better, they are America companies.

Perhaps best of all are the people involved. Take SpaceX mastermind Elon Musk . Among other undertakings he co-founded the company that became PayPal, the iconic Internet payment platform. He put $100 million of his own money into this project. You have to love it. One successful venture is rolled over into another and another and another. Take that you Occupy Wall Street types who think the rich never give back!

How many other ventures are out there under the radar? Hopefully a lot. Fracking for instance. Successful on privately held land. Verboten on public land where the government rules.

If you doubt free enterprise works, just look at this achievement and think again. If we don't give people like these the freedom to succeed others will step in. Sir Richard Branson comes to mind with his Virgin Galactic Gateway. At least it's in New Mexico!